The Clothes on Their Backs

I confess that I didn’t fully appreciate the craft of Linda Grant’s writing in The Clothes on Their Backs (Scribner, 2008) until I attended the book club discussion led by superstar Kathy Jackson.  Shortlisted for last year’s Man Booker Prize and winner of the Orange Prize, it tells the story of Vivian Kovacs, an interesting, and not totally likeable, protagonist.  A chance visit to a formerly smart London women’s dress shop (about to go out of business) and meeting with its proprietress, a former lover of Vivian’s uncle, sets up Vivian’s reminiscence about her past, growing up as the only child of Jewish Hungarian refugees.  If you think you’ve read this story before, think again…